The 2017 CFL season will be the 60th season since the CFL was founded, but the competition predates that by many decades, and teams in Canada have been competing for the Grey Cup title since 1909. As it says in Wikipedia, “The CFL was officially founded on January 19, 1958. The league was formed from a merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union [Eastern Canada] founded in 1907 and the Western Interprovincial Football Union [Western Canada] founded in 1936.” {Excerpt from Canadian Football League (en.wikipedia.org).}

For most of its existence, and still today, the CFL has been comprised of 9 teams…West Division: the BC Lions, the Calgary Stampeders, the Edmonton Eskimos, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.East Division: the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Toronto Argonauts, the Ottawa RedBlacks, the Montreal Alouettes.
The teams play a 20-game regular season, which spans from late June to mid-November; and the playoffs sees 6 of the teams compete for the Grey Cup title, which is held in a different venue each year. Last season saw the relatively new team the Ottawa RedBlacks (est. 2014) win their first Grey Cup title, defeating Calgary 39-33 at BMO Field in Toronto, on Sunday November 27, 2016. Ottawa will host the 2017 Grey Cup, to be played on Sunday the 26th of November.

In 2016, the CFL, overall, averaged 24,691 per game…
That 24,691 per game figure was almost exactly the same as in 2015 (just 46 per game lower than the 2015 overall average attendance of 24,737). The highest-drawing team in the CFL is usually the Edmonton Eskimos, with average crowds in the 30-32-K-range most seasons, but they never have a decent percent-capacity figure because the Eskimos play in the much too large Commonwealth Stadium (which was built for the Commonwealth Games in 1978, and was expanded in 1982, and currently has a capacity of 56.2 K, meaning the Eskimos play to over 24 thousand empty seats most games). But last year, the Saskatchewan Roughriders had the highest attendance, at 31.1 K. And because the Roughriders are about to move into their brand-new purpose-built stadium (Mosaic Stadium, capacity 33,000), Saskatchewan will probably have the highest attendance in 2017 as well. {See this, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_CFL_season#Saskatchewan_Roughriders_new_stadium.}

Toronto: the largest city in Canada, yet the home of the worst-drawing CFL team…
The CFL draws pretty well. Most teams draw easily above 20 K, the glaring exception being Toronto. And last season [2016], two teams – Ottawa and Hamilton – played to above 100-percent-capacity, while two other teams played to near-full-house-capacities (Saskatchewan at 93%, and Montreal at 87%). If you are new to the CFL, and are wondering why Toronto, the largest city by far in Canada, is home to the worst-drawing CFL team, well that is because a vast amount of sports fans in Toronto consider the CFL to be a bush-league organization that is beneath them. And a significant amount of people in Toronto think that a major World-Class city, such as Toronto, deserves major-league things…things like NFL franchises. They don’t know what they are missing, because, having attended CFL games myself, I am here to tell you that the CFL is a great league, with exciting games, offense-friendly rules, passionate fans, cool logos and uniforms, and, by-and-large, excellent venues that host affordable outings. But that is ignored by the majority of Toronto sports fans, and to many in Canada’s largest city, the priority is in attaining an NFL franchise, whether by hook or crook…Toronto has been trying to steal the NFL’s Buffalo Bills for years now. Hey Toronto: you are in Canada, not the United States. And your country already HAS a major-league pro football league. So get over yourselves and live with it. ‘Cuz the Buffalo Bills ain’t moving to Toronto. Maybe you should be more concerned with the major-league teams you already have, Toronto…because that hockey team you got, the one with the idiotic misspelling in their name – the ‘Leafs’ [sic] – they haven’t won a Stanley Cup title in over half a century. That doesn’t sound very major league to me.

Canadian Football League: location-map for 2015, with 2014 attendances and percent-capacities & titles-listed-by-team./
Plus illustrations for the 3 new stadiums in the CFL (Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg)./
Plus an editorial on the present-day Montreal Alouettes’ bogus claim to the 4 CFL titles won by the Montreal Alouettes (I) (1961-81).

2014: the completely renovated 24,000-capacity stadium and an expansion-CFL-team in Ottawa (the Ottawa RedBlacks)…
First and second photos below: on July 18, 2014…after a 9-year absence, the CFL returns to Canada’s capital – opening day at TD Place Stadium at Lansdowne Park, with the completely renovated (and not at-that-point completely re-built) stadium, playing host to 24,000 football-starved fans. The Ottawa RedBlacks beat the Argonauts 18-17. But the RedBlacks only won once more in their debut season (going 2-16). Here is the wiki page off the Ottawa RedBlacks, Ottawa RedBlacks (en.wikipedia.com).
Photo and Image credits above -
Long-view aerial shot, photo by aerialphotographs.ca. Helmet photo from morethanjustcaps.com. Aerial shot with construction sites L R & Ctr, photo by Front Page Media Group at frontpagemediagroup.ca. RedBlacks jerseys (illustration circa 2014), by Cmm3 at File:CFL OTT Jersey.png (en.wikipedia.org).

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2014: new stadium in Hamilton for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats…
At the following link there are lots of photos of, and info on, the Tiger-Cats’ nice new 24,000-capacity stadium: Tim Hortons Field…Tim Hortons Field/Stadium experience (ticats.ca).

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were formed in 1950 as a result of a merger of two football teams from Hamilton, Ontario: the black-and-gold-clad Hamilton Tigers (established in 1869 as Hamilton Football Club, with 5 Grey Cup titles [1913, 1915, 1928, 1929, 1932]), and the red-and-white-clad Hamilton Flying Wildcats (established in 1941, and winners of the 1943 Grey Cup title). All of the 6 Grey Cup titles in the last sentence are not claimed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have won 8 Grey Cup titles (1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1986, 1999).

The Oskie-Wee-Wee, Oskie-Wah-Wah cheer is kind of corny, but it also is definitely great fun. The Hamilton faithful sing it every game, and it serves as a rallying cry. In the third photo below, you can see most everyone in the stands there in Canada’s Steel City belting out the goofy cheer at the top of their lungs. Here is the wiki page off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (en.wikipedia.com).
Photo and Image credits above -
Helmet illustration by mghelmets.com/canada. Aerial shot from Calgary Stampeders’ Twitter account, https://twitter.com/calstampeders/status/500359211578970114. Interior field & crowd shots by Hamilton Tiger-Cats at ticats.ca/tim-hortons-field-overview. Ti-Cats jerseys (illustration circa 2014), by Cmm3 at File:CFL HAM Jersey.png (en.wikipedia.org).

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Here is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ new stadium, which opened in May 2013…
Winnipeg Football Club was formed in 1930, as Winnipeg Rugby Football Club. Their original colors were green and white. Two years later, in 1932, the club merged with St Johns Rugby Club of Winnipeg, retaining the name ‘Winnipeg Football Club’, but changing their colors to dark blue and gold. In 1935, the team got their nickname after the sportswriter for the Winnipeg Tribune, Vince Leah, began referring to them as the ‘Blue Bombers of Western football’. That same year the team won their first Grey Cup title, beating the Hamilton Tigers 18-12 (thus becoming the first team from Western Canada to win the Grey Cup title). Winnipeg Football Club (aka the Blue Bombers) have won 10 Grey Cup titles (1935, 1939, 1941, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1984, 1988, 1990). As seen on the sign on the stadium exterior in the second photo below, to this day the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are officially known as the Winnipeg Football Club.
Here is the wiki page off the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Blue Bombers (en.wikipedia.org).
Photo and Image credits above -
Helmet illustration by mghelmets.com/canada. Aerial shot of stadium by Winnipeg Blue Bombers at stadiumdb.com/stadiums/can. Blue Bombers jerseys (illustration circa 2014), by Cmm3 at File:CFL WPG Jersey.png. Exterior shot of the stadium: photo by Phil Hossack at winnipegfreepress.com.

The chart on the right-hand-side of the map page shows the average attendances of CFL teams from the last 3 seasons (2012, 2013, 2014). Also shown are 2014 stadium-seated-capacities and each teams’ 2014 percent-capacities (Percent-capacity equals Average Attendance divided by Stadium-seated-capacity).

Titles are listed at the far right of the chart. Notes below that chart touch upon how 1). Hamilton has opted to not claim titles won by the original Hamilton Tigers football club (because that is what the folks in charge of the football club back then felt was the proper thing to do); and 2). how Montreal Alouettes (III) are trying to pretend they won 4 titles as the original Montreal Alouettes (I), despite the fact that that original team folded in 1987 (because the current Alouettes franchise is trying to re-write history/ see below).

Grey Cup titles (aka CFL titles) that are listed for each team on the 2 charts on the map page are for that franchise, not for other franchises that a current CFL franchise is trying to pass off as their own history (see previous sentence above). See below, for why the CFL’s claim and the Montreal Alouettes (III) claim to the 4 CFL titles won by the original Montreal Alouettes (I) is dishonest and should not be acknowledged.

Regarding the present-day Montreal Alouettes’ bogus claim on the 4 CFL titles won by the Montreal Alouettes (I) (1961-81)…

On the map, the Montreal Alouttes (III) are listed as having won 4 CFL titles, and not the 7 CFL titles they claim, for the reasons elaborated below…

The following two excerpts are from the Wikipedia page on the CFL team called the Baltimore Stallions…”However, when it became apparent that the CFL was writing off its American experiment as a lost cause, the [Baltimore Stallions owner Jim Speros] decided to relocate the Stallions franchise to Montreal as the now third incarnation of the Montreal Alouettes. Speros kept the Alouettes for only one year before selling the franchise to current owner Robert C. Wetenhall in 1997.”… /…”The CFL does not officially consider the Stallions to be part of the Alouettes’ history. According to official league records, Speros canceled the Stallions franchise after the 1995 season and reclaimed the dormant Alouettes franchise. Consequently, when Speros moved the team to Montreal, all of the Stallions’ players were released from their contracts, though [General Manager Jim] Popp managed to resign many of them…”{end of excerpts at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Stallions}.

The extra titles (the 4 CFL titles won by the original Montreal Alouettes) that this present-day Montreal Alouettes (III) franchise claims were won by a separate franchise, namely Montreal Alouettes (I), which existed from 1946 to 1981, and won 4 CFL titles (in 1949, 1970, 1974, 1977). [Note: Montreal Concordes/Alouettes (II), which existed from 1982-86, won zero CFL titles and folded in June 1987, 2 days before the start of the 1987 CFL season.]

Both those earlier Montreal Alouettes franchises folded. The [2015] present-day Montreal Alouettes (III), which first played as the Baltimore CFLers and the Baltimore Stallions, played 2 CFL seasons when they were located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA (in 1994 and 1995), and did win a CFL title (in 1995). This is the only other CFL title that Montreal Alouettes (III) should be claiming, besides, of course the 3 CFL titles that the franchise has won as the third version of the Montreal Alouettes (III) – in 2002, 2009, and 2010. Because that CFL franchise, that spent its first 2 years in Baltimore, was (and still is) the team which moved from Baltimore to Montreal in 1996. The present-day Montreal Alouettes franchise has always had nothing to do with those two earlier CFL franchises in Montreal other than occupying the same location, and so therefore as dictated by logic and pro sports convention, the present-day Montreal Alouettes should not get to claim those titles.

And if that doesn’t convince you, they why don’t the present-day Ottawa Senators NHL team (est. 1991, and with zero Stanley Cup titles) claim the 11 Stanley Cup titles won by the original incarnation of the Ottawa Senators ? (The original Ottawa Senators (I) existed from 1883 to 1934 and won the last of their 11 Stanley Cup titles in 1926-27. Declining attendance and the Depression forced the Senators to sit out the 1931-32 NHL season, then a couple years later, the franchise left Ottawa and moved to St. Louis, MO as the St. Louis Eagles, in 1934-35, and then the franchise folded 8 months later in April 1935, as one of the very many pro sports teams in North America which fell victim to the Great Depression.)

I’ll tell you why the present-day Ottawa Senators (II) don’t claim the Original Senators’ 11 Stanley Cup titles…because it would be stupid and false and cheap – in other words, it would be fraudulent – to claim titles that your organization had nothing to do with, other than later occupying the same location under the same name as the original title-winning organization. Take two people from the same town with the same name – one in the present-day and one from the distant past…that latter-day person has no right to claim the accomplishments of that earlier person. Duh. This is not rocket science. And sentimentality has no place in this discussion. The Oakland A’s own the 5 MLB World Series titles won by the Philadelphia Athletics. The Los Angeles Dodgers own the 1 MLB World Series title won by the Brooklyn Dodgers (in 1955). The San Francisco Giants own the 5 MLB World Series titles won by the New York Giants. The Indianapolis Colts own the 3 NFL titles (incl. 1 Super Bowl title) won by the Baltimore Colts. And yes, although Canadian puck-heads do not like to talk about it, the Arizona Coyotes, and not the new version of the Winnipeg Jets (II), own the 3 WHA Avco Cup titles that the original Winnipeg Jets (I) won in the 1970s, when that franchise was in the WHA, a decade before the Winnipeg Jets (I) slunk off to the desert in Arizona in 1996. Period.

In all these aforementioned cases, the organization in question – the organization which won the title(s), is a distinct entity. The city did not win the title, regardless of the support that that city gave the pro team. The pro team won the title…and if that pro team moves, than the titles go with them. And if that pro team folds, the titles still exist, but they now go unclaimed in perpetuity. Too bad for the residents of the cities whose title-winning franchises either folded or absconded from that city – but there you have it. Sometimes life sucks. To say that the present-day Montreal Alouettes (III) deserve to claim the legacy (including the 4 Grey Cup titles) of the original Alouettes teams – teams that folded and thus ceased to exist – is to say that it is OK to re-write history to serve selfish and sentimental needs.

Here is what the NHL media guide has to say about why the present-day Ottawa Senators do not claim the 11 Stanley Cup titles of the original Ottawa Senators who existed from 1883 to 1934…
“NHL Media Guide 2010. …“The original Senators (also known as the Ottawa Hockey Club) organization won eleven Stanley Cups, not the current organization founded in 1990. Neither the NHL or the Senators claim the current Senators to be a continuation of the original organization or franchise. The awards, statistics and championships of both eras are kept separate and the NHL franchise founding date of the current Senators is in 1991.”…”… {end of excerpt at footnote at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Senators#cite_note-1 (en.wikipedia.org)}.

The one CFL title that the franchise of the Montreal Alouettes (III) should be claiming…the 1995 CFL title of the Baltimore Stallions…just happens to be the only Grey Cup title won by a CFL team not located in Canada. Nice try re-writing history, CFL. And don’t give me this story about how the second iteration of the Alouettes, who folded in 1987, went into dormancy. How come you (the CFL) never announced that in 1987 ? Where is there any fact to the effect that the Montreal Alouettes’ franchise was in dormancy in the 1987-to 1995 time period ? You just made that “dormant franchise” BS up, when it suited your needs. Here is a Youtube video of a CBC broadcast from June 24 1987, the day the Montreal Alouettes (II) folded…the 7-minute video contains a very thorough discussion about the demise of the Montreal Alouettes (II)…and there are exactly zero mentions that the franchise has gone into a “dormant” state…Alouettes Fold (1987) {7:23 video uploaded by retrosask at youtube.com)}. At the 0:18 point in the video, the CBC newsreader says, “…mark a dark day in the Canadian Football League’s history: commissioner Doug Mitchell, in the CFL’s headquarters in Toronto, announcing that the Montreal Alouettes are no longer…” {quote transcribed from CBC broadcast of 24 June 1987}. You get that, CFL front office circa-1995-&-96? You guys said that the Alouettes were dead on June 24, 1987. In a press conference. So, CFL-front-office-of-1995-&-96, how did you revive this DEAD FRANCHISE ? How? That franchise was pronounced dead in 1987 – and you guys said it. Dead is dead, you weasels in the CFL front office. What, CFL, you think eight years later we all forgot that you read the last rites to the Montreal Alouettes franchise? I guess the Alouettes franchise-mark-three-and-born-in-1996 are actually the Undead – like a frigging zombie-franchise or something. Or maybe the Montreal Alouettes-mark-three think they actually are the Only Begotten Son, and the CFL are actually a magical Sky Wizard. Because by declaring, 8 years after the team folded, that the Montreal Alouettes were in fact a “dormant franchise” means that the CFL thinks that they can bring back the dead.

Here is the gist of what the CFL said to the Baltimore Stallions’ franchise in early 1996, as that franchise was in the process of relocating to Montreal:
‘We can’t be ever mentioning or reminding Canadian sports fans that one of our current franchises won its first CFL title while located in the USA. So let’s pretend this new version of the Alouettes is connected to the original version of the Alouettes. We’ll make it legit by saying your franchise, the Baltimore Stallions, have folded, and have taken over the Alouettes’ franchise that was in dormancy. Yeah, that’s it – dormancy. You know, like how the Cleveland Browns fans got the NFL to re-write their history after Baltimore stole their team. Then you guys in the Baltimore Stallions front office can just change you business cards to read ‘Montreal Alouettes’, and you guys can just pretend that you released all your players, then you can re-sign most of them as Alouettes, as you see fit. Heck, Mr Piros, here, have those 4 old titles the original Alouettes won…they’re just laying around collecting dust. Let’s buff them up and put them on your mantlepiece, and pretend that you new guys earned those 4 Grey Cup titles. And while we’re at it, let’s all conspire to pretend that your franchise never won the Grey Cup in the States. In a few years, people will start to forget about that harebrained scheme we had to try to expand into the USA. And up here in Canada, hopefully most sports fans will forget you guys originally came from America.’

Nomenclature aside, the new guys who are using the old Alouettes name had nothing to do with the original Alouettes, and they certainly did not earn those 4 Grey Cup titles that the original Montreal Alouettes won. The CFL cheapens their biggest asset -the Grey Cup itself – by this cavalier behavior, and by its historical revisionism on the matter of the Baltimore/Montreal franchise shift.
_____Thanks to…
Globe-map of Canada by: Aquarius.geomar.de at File:Canada (orthographic projection).svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
Blank map of Canada by: S Tyx and Sémhur and Riba, at File:Blank map of Canada.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
Provinces-map of Canada by E Pluribus Anthony at File:Political map of Canada.png.

Official CFL site (www.cfl.ca).2010 CFL season, including images of 2010 CFL retro uniforms (en.wikipedia.org).
For 2010, the CFL season will once again start on the national holiday of Canada Day, on July 1st.
The 2009 Grey Cup finalists…reigning champions the Montreal Alouettes, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, will play in Regina, Saskatchewan; and the Calgary Stampeders will host the Toronto Argonauts. {CFL schedule, here}.
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The 2009 CFL season saw a nail-biting finish. In the 2009 Grey Cup, the Montreal Alouettes snatched a last second, 14-point come-from-behind-victory, from the out-coached Saskatchewan Roughriders. I can see why Montreal head coach Marc Trestman’s name has been mentioned as a possible NFL head coaching hire…the Alouettes methodically pared down the Roughriders’ lead, and positioned themselves for a field goal as the clock ran down. Right before that, Saskatchewan couldn’t run the clock down, with 2 lame up the middle runs that failed to get that crucial final first down. Montreal got the ball back and moved right down the field. Their first field goal attempt was actually missed, but Saskatchewan was penalized for having too many men on the field, and Montreal got a second shot and won it wih a 32-yard FG. Montreal running back Avon Cobourne was named MVP.
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The map and chart shows all the 2009 uniforms of the 8 CFL teams (including 1960s-themed throwback uniforms), as well as average attendances, plus 3 or 4 photos of each team’s stadium.
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Here is an article from Sports Business daily.com, from last NovemberTurnstile Tracker: CFL Attendance Down Slightly From ’08.
The fact that attendance was down slightly should not distract one from the fact that there are real success stories in the CFL. Three of the eight teams played to capacity last season…the Calgary Stampeders, the Montreal Alouettes, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. True, Montreal was playing in a 20,000-seat stadium, but the team has just expanded the facility by 4,800. [You can see the new stand in the middle photo in Montreal's section on the map page (the photo is from the July 27th game v. Toronto). And the photo on the right is a Bing.com Bird's Eye satellite view that shows the stand from earlier in 2010 when construction was still ongoing.]

Calgary and Edmonton also upgraded their stadia, and the BC Lions are putting a retractable roof on BC Place (for a 2011 re-opening). Also, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be moving into a new stadium at the University of Manitoba in 2012. Hamilton and Saskatchewan are considering new stadiums as well, and there is the new Ottawa franchise slated for 2013. And the September 25, 2010 CFL game to be played in Moncton, New Brunswick’s new stadium sold out in less than 48 hours {‘CFL game in Moncton a sell out‘ {CBC.ca)}.

Frankly, the dead weight in the CFL is the team from Canada’s largest city…the Toronto Argonauts. It seems that the Canadian Football League is just too, well, provincial, for the refined tastes of the people of Toronto. Toronto is a city with a metro area population of around 5.1 million {2006 figure}. Many people from Toronto believe they live in a world-class city and thus deserve things like a Major League Baseball team (which has been poorly supported for over a decade, now, with the fifth-worst average attendance as of June 30th, 2010 {see this}, as well as an NFL franchise (which would mean they would steal the Buffalo Bills from the fans that make up the Bills’ very solid fan base in western New York). I think there are very many sports fans in Toronto who feel the Canadian Football League is beneath them. The Toronto Argonauts drew 26,374 per game last season, which is horrible when you take into account the fact that Toronto is over 9 times the size of cities like Hamilton and Winnipeg, and more than 25 times the size of Regina. [List of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in Canada, from en.wikipedia.org.]
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My mom was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, so I can’t resist linking up to this article by Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offensive lineman Kelly Bates, from the CFL.ca website, ‘Have to love that Rider pride‘ (June 30,2010).
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org Canadian Football League.
Thanks to Geology.com Canada Physical Map.
Thanks to the brilliant MG’s Helmets.com… MG’s Helmets. Last year, this site was the only place I could find images of the circa-1960s-throwback helmets that all the CFL teams sported in week 3. PS, this season, the CFL teams will have throwback uniforms from the 1970s, during weeks 6 and 7…see this, from the official CFL site, ‘Kicking off 2010 schedule with momentum’.

July 1, 2009

Defending CFL champions are the Calgary Stampeders, who beat the Montreal Alouettes, 22-14, in the 96th Grey Cup at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, on November 23, 2008. It was the Stampeders’ 6th Grey Cup Title, and their first since 2001. This season’s Grey Cup will be played at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium, on November 29th.

The Canadian Football League’s 52nd season begins with Toronto at Hamilton, and Montreal at Calgary, on July 1st, which is a national holiday known as Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day), and is the anniversary of the 1867 treaty {see this}, which united Canada into a single country of 4 provinces {see this map from the Atlas of Canada site}.

Thanks to Geology.com {click here}, for the base map of Canada. Thanks to MG’s Helmets {click here}, for the helmets. Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {click here}. Thanks to Logo Shak {click here}. Thanks to this page, for the attendance figures {click here}. Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia (click here, (set at Canadian Football League page)}.

Update: For the 1960′s-style rero helmets that the 8 teams are wearing for a few games…Thanks to MG’s Helmets {click here}.

July 16, 2008

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[Note: the map shows each CFL team's present day helmet. At the bottom of each team box is: 1. the team's earliest logo I could find; 2. a helmet design from the 1960s-1980s; 3. a recent variation of their logo/ or their current logo.]

The Canadian Football League was formed in 1958, though some of the teams had already been playing for many decades. The Canadian championship of gridiron football, the Grey Cup {see this}, was last won by a non-CFL team in 1944, when a battalion from Montreal called Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Donnacona {see this} were the champions. (Just because I love historical trivia like this, the last two non-CFL winners before this were the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes, in 1942, and The Sarnia (Ontario) Imperials {see this} in 1934 and 1936.)

The CFL is widely (and almost completely) ignored by the American media, and is overshadowed, even in Canada, by the National Football League. But it has been getting solid attendance figures for years, and averaged 29,438 per game in 2007. In fact the CFL is the 7th highest drawing league in the world {see this}.

The CFL season runs from July 1st to early November, with the Grey Cup played (in alternating cities) in late November. The CFL has some crucial rule differences from the NFL. First of all, there are only 3, not 4, downs (or plays), for the offensive team to gain the 10 yards necessary to start a new set of downs. Secondly, the offensive backfield (ie, the players who get the ball the most often) can be in forward motion prior to the ball being put in play. This gives the offense a much better chance of gaining yards than in the NFL. Thirdly, the game is a far more wide-open affair, as the CFL field is wider, longer, and has deeper end-zones. Again, more chance for the offense to score. Finally, there is the opportunity for a 1-point score (called a “rouge”), via the kicking game.